New iMac Is Bizarre

[AlphaCentauri]

Hmm, my wife (presently rocking 21.5” iMac 2017) loves the new design. She says it looks friendly, soft and welcoming and is perfect for her small home office. She can’t decide between blue or silver yet but we will be buying one for her.

As for white bezels, I’ve bought 43” LG telly in white enclosure to go with PS5 in my small mancave some time ago. I thought white bezels will be distracting, but against white wall, they just... disappear.

 

[thadoggfather]

So many puzzling decisions by Apple with the iMac redesign.


6. Headphone jack on the side sucks if you use wired speakers.

I really dont like this one either.

I understand that the iMac is thinner than a headphone jack (11mm vs 14.5mm or something) but they still could've added a bulge or some other workaround imo

It looks too much like an iPad from the side at that point. However, I'd recommend an L-shaped 3.5mm if you are constantly going to have speakers hooked up

 

[trip1ex]

I really dont like this one either.

I understand that the iMac is thinner than a headphone jack (11mm vs 14.5mm or something) but they still could've added a bulge or some other workaround imo

It looks too much like an iPad from the side at that point. However, I'd recommend an L-shaped 3.5mm if you are constantly going to have speakers hooked up

I'd actually be happy they included it at all. Given they claim room filling sound and that the iMac speakers are the best ever in a Mac. Given it's wireless headphone world these days. Given they sell wireless Minis for cheap. And given they like to sell adapters.

Also a side headphone jack I think is much more useful to people using wired headphones than a jack on the back. Easier to plug and unplug.

Last , I would guess a usb to headphone jack adapter or cheap usb sound dongle is possible if one really wanted to use wired desktop speakers and wanted the cord to come out the back.

 

[blairh]

1. Vaguely agree, but I’m not the market they are targeting with the base iMac. This will matter only if it doesn’t change with the Pro. They’re filling a niche. People have gone bananas over them.

2. Then buy a Mac Mini.

3. I disagree. It’s slick and futuristic.

4. I bet 98% of normal users will use one port 5% of the time. And Ethernet is irrelevant to 98% of those users.

5. The power brick might be a weird flex, but again, you’re likely the only one outside of a handful of other MacRumors members who cares. My LG Wallpaper has a power brick, and I don’t mind.

6. The headphone jack is generally irrelevant. Unless you’re an audio/video professional using a USB-C connected interface, chances are 99% of users have wireless headphones.

7. Design. User demand. Do you really think Apple hasn’t done their market research? Plus, why not? It will look excellent in the spaces it will most likely live, and function better than most will expect. In my opinion, it’s a job well done for the chipset that lives in it.

8. You clearly do not own an M1 with unified memory. I have both a 16GB MBP for personal and 8GB MBP for work. 8GB is a non-issue. This isn’t 2012.

9. This “polarising,” and “bold,” choice, in my opinion, works. They thought differently and delivered an excellent consumer machine.

A lot of people who don't like the new iMacs will not buy a Mini. They want an all-in-one. Not a box and a 3rd party monitor.

Your math is totally off IMO. Ethernet is relevant to far more than 2% of iMac users. You are downplaying the need for more than one port. Tons of people use wired headphones or wired speakers.

Why not? Well you wouldn't have to make compromises in order to make thinness your main objective.

Yeah I'm a lot more skeptical about 8 GB than you are.

Not really a question of whether it works or not. I just feel they really should have offered a model in this size without a white bezel.

 

[BradMacPro]

Then you would be very happy 😊. I didn't say the bezels should all be black. I said there should be a choice.

Get a sticker and you can have a bezel of your choice. 50% gray would be technically best.

 

[transpo1]

White bezels would never work for me.

Good thing you didn’t have to use computers in the eighties— you would have had beige bezels.

 

[kildraik]

A lot of people who don't like the new iMacs will not buy a Mini. They want an all-in-one. Not a box and a 3rd party monitor.

Your math is totally off IMO. Ethernet is relevant to far more than 2% of iMac users. You are downplaying the need for more than one port. Tons of people use wired headphones or wired speakers.

Why not? Well you wouldn't have to make compromises in order to make thinness your main objective.

Yeah I'm a lot more skeptical about 8 GB than you are.

Not really a question of whether it works or not. I just feel they really should have offered a model in this size without a white bezel.

Of course those numbers are exaggerated... But prove me wrong. You won’t be able to. I don’t know anybody that isn’t a professional pushing many gigs per day using Ethernet. It’s an irrelevant need for their target market share.

What compromises? Seems like a highly competent machine to me with more than enough for the average consumer. And because Apple users use Apple products, they’re likely to have AirPods. It would stupefy me to see this be an issue. Docks also exist, and with the price cuts due to Apple Silicon, if you can afford a new iMac, you can afford a dock or hub. If you need the connectivity, wait for a Pro or larger iMac.

It sounds like you’re somebody resistant to change. You’ll come around.

 

[ADGrant]

We all got brainwashed into the more and more RAM race.

That in turn resulted in more power consumption due to clock & instruction cycles that were not use and wasted energy shown by heat.

M1 changed Apple back to the old days when they had control over the processor and software instead of being tied to Intel's stranglehold...

That's why I now see the M1 even with a "paltry" 8GB of Unified Memory outpaces, outruns and blow socks off my Intel based Macs with double or triple the RAM!

Apple never had control over their Mac processors. The early Macs had a variant of the Motorola 68000 processor which was also used in Sun workstations, the Commodore Amiga and Steve Jobs Next Cube which ran the predecessor to OS-X. The 68K family was also used in the Sega Genesis Console and the Palm Pilot. Under John Sculley, the Mac was transitioned to IBM's power PC architecture which was used in IBM range of Unix computers running AIX (IBMs version of Unix). The Power PC architecture was also used in game consoles.

The move to Intel from Power PC was initiated by Steve Jobs because of the excessive heat and power consumption of the Power PC chips they were being sold. OS-X was always able to run on Intel because it was based on the Next OS which had already been ported to Intel. What is interesting about this is the PowerPC architecture was a Risc architecture but was still less efficient than the legacy burdened x86 instruction set.

You theory that the M1 Macs have lower power consumption because the have less RAM is nonsense. The people who created the ARM architecture focused on efficiency from the beginning. Apple adopted ARM for its mobile devices very easy because of this. The first ARM device from Apple was the Newton and Apple at one point owned 43% of ARM.
ARM has pretty much owned the mobile space since the original iPhone so power efficiency has always been a priority.

 

[iDave]

Yeah I'm a lot more skeptical about 8 GB than you are.

I plan to find out. My current 27" iMac has 24GB of RAM, which may be overkill for my needs. I'm going to get the new mid tier 24" iMac with 8GB. Based on reviews and everything I've read about the M1, it should be fine. Serious video editors might find 8GB to be inadequate but for my occasional YouTube creations and everything else I do, I'm not worried.

 

[/V\acpower]

The argument that "white bezel is distracting" is just wrong. The brain doesn't work that way.

Everytime you watch TV or your computer screen, the screen is actually a fraction of your visual field and the brain simply stop caring about everything around it. Same thing with the white bezel. Just like the notch on my iPhone or the colorful ring around your iPhone when you put a colored case on.

It's really just a matter of taste.

I also don't get the "they should have made it thicker to remove the chin, because it being thin doesn't matter on a desktop". Well, the chin also doesn't matter on a desktop. The iPhone chin did matter because it's a handheld, so physical size matter a lot and the chin area wasted precious space that is now way more useful as screen area. But on a desktop, the chin doesn't matter. The iMac being a bit taller is as irrelevant as the iMac being a bit thinner. Personally I love the iMac chin, it's what makes the iMac so recognizable. (Plus it's a very good area for Post-it ).

To be honest, I really love the new iMacs, and I hope the higher end models will also keep this design langage and offer multiple colors, instead of just Grey or darker Grey with black bezel.

 

[blairh]

Of course those numbers are exaggerated... But prove me wrong. You won’t be able to. I don’t know anybody that isn’t a professional pushing many gigs per day using Ethernet. It’s an irrelevant need for their target market share.

What compromises? Seems like a highly competent machine to me with more than enough for the average consumer. And because Apple users use Apple products, they’re likely to have AirPods. It would stupefy me to see this be an issue. Docks also exist, and with the price cuts due to Apple Silicon, if you can afford a new iMac, you can afford a dock or hub. If you need the connectivity, wait for a Pro or larger iMac.

It sounds like you’re somebody resistant to change. You’ll come around.

Using common sense will prove you wrong. Ethernet and ports still matter to plenty of people that want to buy this machine.

A new power brick and telling people to spend additional money on a dock or hub because their new expensive iMac doesn't have the I/O they need is a compromise and a fail.

I'm not resistant to change. I just think you need to make changes for good reasons.

 

[blairh]

The argument that "white bezel is distracting" is just wrong. The brain doesn't work that way.

Everytime you watch TV or your computer screen, the screen is actually a fraction of your visual field and the brain simply stop caring about everything around it. Same thing with the white bezel. Just like the notch on my iPhone or the colorful ring around your iPhone when you put a colored case on.

Not true. Your eyes have a much easier time focusing on dark content with black or dark bezels.

 

[iDave]

Not true. Your eyes have a much easier time focusing on dark content with black or dark bezels.

Modern TVs have gotten to the point where they almost have no bezel at all. Mine has about a quarter inch black border on a 65 inch TV. Behind that is a white wall. I think the picture looks great and I would never consider painting my wall black. So I'm confused.

 

[AlphaCentauri]

Not true. Your eyes have a much easier time focusing on dark content with black or dark bezels.

Yeah, but the screen surface ends eventually and around it is usually white wall (or at least bright colour, unless your room has black walls). I was initially sceptical in regards to white bezels in general, but after buying a TV with white enclosure, I’ve found it to be non-issue.

 

[blairh]

Modern TVs have gotten to the point where they almost have no bezel at all. Mine has about a quarter inch black border on a 65 inch TV. Behind that is a white wall. I think the picture looks great and I would never consider painting my wall black. So I'm confused.

Allow me to make you less confused by stating the obvious. Your eyes are focused on your TV. Not your wall.

 

[blairh]

Yeah, but the screen surface ends eventually and around it is usually white wall (or at least bright colour, unless your room has black walls). I was initially sceptical in regards to white bezels in general, but after buying a TV with white enclosure, I’ve found it to be non-issue.

That's great if it works for you, but in general, your eyes are going to have a lot easier of a time focusing on a picture when you don't have a white border immediately surrounding your content.

 

[Maconplasma]

That's great if it works for you, but in general, your eyes are going to have a lot easier of a time focusing on a picture when you don't have a white border immediately surrounding your content.

You should really speak for yourself. How YOU view something doesn't apply to the rest of us.

 

[BradMacPro]

15 years… horse and buggy? I must be getting old if people think 15 years is such a long time. There are lots of 15-yr old cars on the road, and nobody finds it bizarre.

Some car designs age better over time or stated another way, were timeless. Take the iconic Jaguar E-Type / XKE. Beautiful as it was, it can't be made this way anymore because of new legislation. Tastes change too, often VERY slowly.

 

[cupcakes2000]

Allow me to make you less confused by stating the obvious. Your eyes are focused on your TV. Not your wall.

Well then in that case let me make your whole point pointless- your eyes are focused on the screen. Not the bezel.

 

[TheRdungeon]

I totally forgot about this event and just saw it was released on the Apple site now. Thought the design looked a little... familiar, as I am using a 23-inch Aluminium Cinema Display at the moment. But I'm extremely confused about the design, agree it looks unfinished? Why no logo on the front? Why the obsession with thin when you could feasibly make it a little thicker and lose the chin. The white bezels look very strange. And why on earth does an iMac need magsafe? First time in a long time it feels Apple did a design by committee approach to a product.

The cinema display still looks like a work of art 15 years later, this does not look like it's gonna age well imo

 

[the future]

That's great if it works for you, but in general, your eyes are going to have a lot easier of a time focusing on a picture when you don't have a white border immediately surrounding your content.

Do you have sources for your very confident claims that black bezels are better than white bezels, like scientific studies etc.?

FWIW before the iPad Pro I always had silver iPads with white bezels and never had any problem „focusing“ on the content.

 

[blairh]

You should really speak for yourself. How YOU view something doesn't apply to the rest of us.

I fundamentally disagree with the notion that a white bezel (bezel guys, not the wall behind your TV) is just as easy on your eyes for video and dark content as a darker bezel. If you or anyone else disagrees, so be it.

 

[blairh]

Well then in that case let me make your whole point pointless- your eyes are focused on the screen. Not the bezel.

Correct. But the color of the bezel will play a role in how easy it is for your eyes to focus on the screen.

 

[blairh]

Do you have sources for your very confident claims that black bezels are better than white bezels, like scientific studies etc.?

FWIW before the iPad Pro I always had silver iPads with white bezels and never had any problem „focusing“ on the content.

Great if it works for you. Do you think it's a coincidence that virtually no TV, monitor, etc, has a white bezel? I don't. I think the human eye has a lot easier of a time viewing video and dark backgrounds if the image is surrounded by a black or dark border. If you disagree, so be it.

 

[the future]

Great if it works for you. Do you think it's a coincidence that virtually no TV, monitor, etc, has a white bezel? I don't. I think the human eye has a lot easier of a time viewing video and dark backgrounds if the image is surrounded by a black or dark border. If you disagree, so be it.

So no sources then?